Mosque Acquires Land For Major Expansion

The Islamic Community Center of Des Plaines has acquired two lots adjacent to its property and will build a $3.5 million mosque on the site.

"This mosque is going to bring peace in the city [of Des Plaines]," said Ghulam M. Farooqie, president of the center. "It is a place of peaceful prayer. There is no singing or dancing. We are a drug-free society. Hopefully it will bring a lot of good things to the neighbors and the community."

The Islamic Community Center, which serves 100 to 150 families from Des Plaines, Prospect Heights, Wheeling, Glenview, Niles and other nearby communities, purchased its half-acre property at 480 Potter Rd. in 1989.

"We started with a few families," Farooqie said. "We used to gather in one another's homes to pray in the month of Ramadan. Then we rented in Glenview."

About 250 people attended the center's groundbreaking Sept. 16 on its expanded 1.75-acre site.

"We are trying our best to complete construction within two years," said Saeed M. Khan, general secretary of the mosque. "We cannot take a loan from the bank because our religion doesn't permit us to pay interest. We have $650,000. The members have provided most of the funds. We are also making an effort to fund-raise and collect money from outside our community."

The congregation plans to complete the mosque in three phases.

The first phase, building the mosque structure, will cost an estimated $1.6 million. Interior finishing will be done in the second phase, and the parking lot will be completed last.

"We will demolish our existing building but not until we have a permit to pray in the new facility," Khan said about meeting city occupancy rules. "That will be in the last phase. The current mosque is in the future parking area."

Khan said the Islamic Community Center is served by two spiritual leaders, Imam Abou Hazem, originally from Jordan, who leads the five daily prayers, and Imam Hafez Mohamed Ilyas, who has memorized the Koran, the Islamic holy book, and teaches children to memorize verses from the book.

"Our community is growing," Khan said. "That's why we need the new mosque. Our small house is not big enough for our community."